What it does
Hermes Agent is an AI assistant you run yourself. You can talk to it in a terminal window or through messaging apps such as Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp and Signal.
Its makers say it has a built-in learning loop: it keeps notes about you, turns complex tasks it has done into reusable "skills", and can search its own past conversations. It can also run scheduled jobs, like a daily report, and hand pieces of work to helper agents.
You choose which AI model powers it, from many providers or your own server, and you can run it on a laptop, a cheap rented server or cloud services.
Who it's for
People who want a self-hosted AI helper that keeps working in the background, and developers who like to tinker with agents.
Can I use it without coding?
With some setup. Installed with a one-line command on Mac, Linux, Windows or Android (Termux), then set up through a guided wizard. You also need access to an AI model. New to this? Start here.
Can I run it?
- Cost
- Free, but needs an AI accountThe software is free, but it uses an online AI service (like OpenAI or Anthropic), which usually charges for use.
- Runs on
- Mac, Windows, Linux, Phone, Server, Cloud
- Computer
- An ordinary computer is fine
- API key
- Not needed
Try it
- Run the one-line installer for Linux, macOS or Windows given in the README.
- Start Hermes and choose your AI provider and model with the setup wizard.
- Optionally connect messaging apps like Telegram or Discord to chat with it there.
Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?
Before you install
- Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
- License (MIT): Very permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
- More on staying safe
Where people are talking about it
- Migrate from OpenClawHacker News · Jun 2026
- Hermes DesktopHacker News · Jun 2026